Ethics Pledge

In an era where public trust in elected officials has eroded to an all-time, I am reaching out to you, candidates for Congress, and asking you to sign on to this pledge.  Our actions as candidates are clear signals to the voters on how we will conduct ourselves as elected representatives.  This pledge is not just for my Democrat colleagues, but for all candidates running for Congress, regardless of Party affiliation or incumbency. The American people will no longer accept government conducted in the dark of night.  Rather, Americans deserve a government to operate as our Founders intended-in the light of day, with free and public debate on the issues.  Our job is to represent Americans.  We must work daily, diligently, to do just that.  Join me today in showing the American people that ethics and government are not mutually exclusive-and that they are not partisan.

I call upon you today to sign on to this pledge:

1. I will maintain an open Congressional calendar to be accessible to any member of the public.
2. I will maintain an open Congressional office, both here in my District and in Washington.
3. I will call upon the immediate end to ear mark projects.
4. I will not hold meetings in secret, but rather will conduct myself in an open and honest manner.
5. I will not seek to destroy the fabric of debate, competition and democracy by attacking candidates' personal lives, but rather focus on the issues to which I will be elected.
6. I will not allow anonymous appropriations.
7. I will not have secret relationships and or business arrangements with those who have financial stakes in our government's business.
8. I will call upon the creation of an independent Congressional Ethics Agency to monitor House members' activities and end the current system of policing ourselves.

SIGNED BY

John Rinaldi (April 22, 2006)
Democrat for U.S. Congress
52nd District

Peter Moore-Kochlacs (April 25, 2006)
Democrat for U.S. Congress
52nd District